Edge-unfolder for fabric-printing or other machines.



PMBNTED SEP'Lzz, 1903.

H.' E.l GREEN. EDGE UNFOLDEB. FOR FABRIC PRINTING 0B. OTHER MACHINES.

I PPLIGATIILFILED NOV. 9. 1897.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 22, 1903.

vPATENT OEETCE.

HIRAM E. GREEN, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 739,781, dated September 22, 1903. Application filed November 9| 1897. Serial Nn. 657.925. (No modem T0 @L w/tom, it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM E. GREEN, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Edge- Unfolders forFabric-Printing, Cloth-Drying, Calender-ing, or other Machines, of which the following is a specification. n

This invention relates to edgeunfolders for fabric-printing,cloth-drying,calendering, and other machines, the object of which is to treat one face of cloth or similar sheet material uniformly from edge to edge. In all such machines the sheet is liable to be turned over.

at the edge and to be pressedfdown flat in such a manner that the face of the cloth intendedto be operated upon is protected from the'operation of the proper rolls for a distance` twice as wide as the fold and the reverse face of the cloth is acted upon for the Width of the fold. Thus in calico-printing in printing tigures upon a white or other ground a turned or doubled edge will prevent the color from being applied tothe inside of the folded part. In a cloth-drying machine a double edge will prevent the uniform drying of the cloth, the folded part retaining the moisture. In calendering, a double edge will prevent a uniform smoothing or glazing of the cloth from selvage to selvage. The object of the folded edge or and by lay-ing the fabric fiat to expose its proper face to the desired action of the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is this invention is to unfold a right-side elevation of such parts of a calicoprinting machine as is necessary to the explanation of this invention, showing the edgeunfolders in operative position; Fig. 2, arear elevation ot the same; Fig. 3, a plan of an edge-unfolder and a part of its supportingbracket.

A represent-s theft-ame; B, the main cylinder; @,the traverse-roll--all beingof the usual construction and operation, and the main cylinder being driven by the usual means and driving, through the gears b d and the vertical shaft D, the rolls (not shown) which take away the cloth E and blanket F from the machine.

double edge of the fabricy The engraved printing-rolls H H' (shown in dotted lin'es in Fig. l) are arranged at intervals to press upon the cloth below the middle of the main cylinder in the usual manner, and the unfolding devices are arranged to act upon the cloth E before it reaches the printing-rolls.

` The direction of the cloth which passes over the traverse-roll C and under lthe main cylinder B is indicated by arrows.

The edge-unfolder, Fig. 3, consists of a cylindrical roll G, provided with projections or bosses g, arranged helically on said roll and conveniently made by cutting in the curved surface Aof said roll one or more helical grooves g or screw-threads 'and a sufficient number of tintes or longitudinal grooves g2, crossing said helical groove or grooves g". The drawing Fig. 3 represents the roll G as being provided with a multiplex thread of bosses in order to give a greater pitch to the thread Without making the bosses too coarse. In no case must the bosses be fine enough or pointed enough to pierce the cloth or other sheet material; but the outer ends of the bosses should be blunt and at nearly right angles to the sides of the bosses.V The roll G turns freely on an arbor g3, on which it is retained in any usual manner, as by a spring split pin g4, which passes through the free end of said arbor and holds the opposite end of said roll against a collar g5 on said arbor and prevents yany endwise motion of said roll on said arbor. The other end ofthe arbor g3 is loosely pivoted at Q6 in a bracketgg, adapted to be secured to the frame A by washers g8 and bolts gg, which pass through said washers and through a slot g10 in said bracket, said slot gm being long enough to allow of an adjustment of the pivoted end of the arbor toward and awayfrom the center of the main cylinder B, as shown in Figs. l and 2, to vary the position of said roll G according to the size of said cylinder. The pivoting of the arbor g3 to the bracket Q7 enables the roll G l to be turned out of contact with the sheet material or into contactwith the same and to be held in either of these positions by its own weight, as shown in Fig. 3, where the position of the-roll when out of contact with the sheet material is indicated by dotted lines.

The roll G is representedas having a right- IOC hand thread and would be placed to bear upon the cloth on the traverse-roll C at the left of Fig. .Q -that is, at the right of the machine-while a similar roll G', having a lefthanded thread, would be placed at the other lend of said traverse-roll and would rest upon the cloth, so that the cloth passing between said embossed rolls G G' and the traverseroll would rotate said embossed rolls. The rotation of said embossed rolls will cause their helically-arranged bosses to catch and move outward the selvages of any folds on theback of the cloth, opening said folds and smoothing the cloth, and such bosses will perform their officev much more efficiently than a continuous smooth helix or screwthread, because the leading outer corner of each boss will be capable of acting upon a folded edge and will engage an edge that a continuous thread might slip over. These rolls G G are preferably arranged at an obtuse angle with the approaching selvage of the cloth. to increase the lead of the helical threads of bosses.

'Io prevent the cloth from `being cut between the bosses and the traverse-roll, (the lat ter being a metallic roll without` soft covering,) the free ends of the rolls G G' are provided with a covering g11 of slightly larger outside diameter than the outside diameter of the metallic part of said rolls G G', the

free ends of each of said rolls being reduced,

as indicated by dotted lines at Q12 in Fig. 3, and covered with a ring g,

mentor by a washer Q13, than the reduced part 912 of said roll and smaller than the outside diameterof said ring,

said washer being held against the free end of the body of the roll by the split pin g4,

l above mentioned. Other embossed rolls G G remove foldsfrom the front or outer face of the cloth, said rolls being placed .to rest upon the cloth while the same is running upon the main cylinder B, these last-named rolls being similar to the embossed rolls which rest .on the traverse-roll and beingr operated and arranged with reference to the approaching selvages of the cloth, as above described, the only difference being that as the main cylinder is covered by'a pad of felting or other soft material and by the blanket F the annular cushion or covering g11 is omitted from the lower pair of embossed rolls.

I claim as my invention- 1. An edge-unfolder, consisting of a roll, provided with one or more series of helicallypreferably of leather, which is retained on said roll by ce. of greater diameter arranged bosses, and adapted to rest upon a sheet material and to be rotated by the movement thereof, said bosses having smooth, blunt outer ends.

2. An edge-unfolder, consisting of a cylindrical roll, having its curved surface provided with longitudinal grooves and with one or more spiral grooves dividing said surface into angular bosses having smooth blunt outer ends.

3. An edge-unfolder, consisting of a cylindrical roll, having its curved surface provided with longitudinal grooves and with one or more spiral grooves dividing said surface into angular bosses, having smooth blunt outer end surfaces concentric with said roll.

4. An edge-unfolder, consisting of'a roll, provided with one or more series of helicallyarranged bosses, and adapted to rest upon a sheet material and to be rotated by the movement thereof, said roll being also provided with a ring having a greater diameter than the outside diameter of said roll including said bosses.

5. An edge-unfolder, consisting of a roll, provided with one or more series of helicallyarranged bosses, and adapted to rest upon a sheet material and to be rotated by the movement thereof, said roll being also provided with a ring or annular cushion of soft material, having a greater diameter than the outside diameter of said roll including said bosses. y

6. The combination of a roll, provided with one or more series of helically arranged bosses, anda roll, or cylinder, adapted to feed sheet material arranged in contact with said bosses and between said rolls.

7. The combination with the frame and main cylinder, of a bracket, supported on said frame, an arbor, loosely pivoted to said bracket, a roll, turning on said arbor and provided With one or more series of bosses, arranged in helical rows on said roll, said roll being adapted by tur-ning said arbor on its pivot to be brought into or out of contact with sheet material carried by said cylinder and to be held by its own weight in either of said positions.

In witness whereof I have signed this specication, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, this 25th dayof October, A. D. 1897.

HIRAM E. GREEN.

ICO 

